Apropos of Pink-crested Tourctcos.



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submarines in particular, and the war in general, had made people

shy of importing birds, but here last April were four individuals of

the most beautiful species of the family, besides a large cage full of

Rosy-faced Lovebirds, and in other cages, quite a dozen Melba

finches, if not more ; all lately arrived from Africa. I began to wish

I held shares in Gamage’s. I must have helped to send them up,

for I departed with the four Touracos, two pairs of Melba Finches

and one true pair of Indigo birds, as well as an incubator and the

five Silky Fowls, already mentioned.


Mr. Newmarsh is a great lover of birds, which just makes

the whole difference to the birds and the purchasers thereof; further¬

more, his father, grandfather, and great grandfather have been

aviculturists before him.


Most of the birds are kept in a large and lofty room, looking

well cared for. There was a small and rare Amazon, the species I

was not sure of, but it may have been a White-fronted Amazon in

immature plumage. There were other members of the Parrot family ;

really the young Rosy-faced Love Birds were a fine lot and a big

lot. And mammals too. A small lemur, perhaps a “ Bush-baby ”

from Africa, very tame and confiding, with slender fingers ; some

Ichneumons, etc.


To return to the subject of the Touracos, I may mention for

the sake of those who have never seen them, that they are the same

size, style and general colouring as in the case of the White-crested

Touracos, which have an edging of white on the crest of the green

head ; but this other species has the whole crest of a beautiful rose-

red, and still the white edging to it. The face and chin is greyish

white ; the whole upper body and tail, iridescent shining blue bottle

green with blue and purplish lights, the tail being bluer than the rest,

the lower body, dull green, the flight feathers as in some of the

other Touracos, brilliant cardinal red; the bill, primrose yellow.

I believe its Latin name is Turacus erythroloptius.


Touracos should be fed upon bananas, scalded dried figs and

other fruits, cut up and mixed in some good insectivorous food.

They need plenty of room, and a warm shelter in winter time. In

due season they delight in grapes, strawberries, and so on, and are

not averse to mealworms. They will become very tame, uttering



